Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX) Issues FY16 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY16 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $5.07-5.12 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus EPS estimate of $5.10. The company issued revenue guidance of $7.51 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $7.51 billion.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Mizuho reiterated a neutral rating and set a $86.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, September 13th. Citigroup Inc. began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, September 9th. They set a neutral rating and a $86.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 21st. Evercore ISI reiterated a hold rating and set a $89.50 price target (up from $78.50) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Sunday, July 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity set a $90.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $82.65.

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) opened at 81.46 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.66 and a 12-month high of $86.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 0.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 20th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Inc. will post $5.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 34.04%.

In other news, Director Jenne K. Britell sold 4,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.76, for a total value of $339,040.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cognios Capital LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the second quarter. Cognios Capital LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,271 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.9% in the second quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 11,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. 91.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.